Improvement in wind-wheels



UNI-TED .STATES PATENT OFFICE.

.A ADDISON P. BROWN, OF SYBAOUSE, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN WIND-WHEELS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 87,628, dated March 9,1869.

Beit known that I, ADDIsON P. BROWN, of Syracuse, in the county ofOnondaga and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in the Construction of Windmills; and I do hereby declareand ascertainmy said invention as follows:

My improvements relate, principally, to ro. sette windmills, by whichthe regulating movements areV made with greater steadiness andreliability than heretofore, and the general efficiency of the mill ismuch improved, as hereinafterv explained.

It is apparent to the critical observer that,

to obtain the greatest practical effect from the wind, it is necessaryto have all the surfaces inclined thereto in one direction. on the frontor impin ging side, while the rear surfaces t should so recede as toallow the freest passage through the slats. This is most important inrosette windmills, but has heretofore been overlooked in practice. l

Again, the regulators heretofore used have lacked the power to act withsufficient expedition and sensitiveness in sudden variations ofwind, soas to prevent a perceptible and injurious increase of velocity, all ofwhich is provided for in my present improvements, which may be describedas follows:

In the accompanying drawings, A A represent the sails or sections of therosette or disk. B B are the main radial arms, to which the sections Aare pivoted. D is the ordinary sliding head used in windmills; S, thebalance or counter weight. E is an annular plate or hub affixed to therear side of the arms B to strengthen and steady them with relation toeach other. The axes of the sections are ou chord-lines between thearms. To each axis a there is a governing-ball, O, affixed by means of arigid rod, c, projecting forward from the axle a of each section bymeans of a jointed rod, Ff, and a short arm, h. Each rod F f is stayedand supported in place by a pivoted link, g, Figure 1. The outer ends ofthe rods F are screwed or otherwise fastened into the rock-shaft t', soas to be adjustable, supported by an arm, 7L. (See Figs. 1 and 4.) Theinner end of leach section A is to be provided with a cast-ironstay-bar, K, orits equivalent, whichr is at its center formed into aloop, k, (see Fig. 3,) so as to make roomfor the rod F. This bar is madeof metal, so as to act, by its weight, as an auxiliary governor in aidof the ball O, while at the same time it firmly secures the inner endsof the slats of the-section; and further, by using this stay-bar K, thethin slats of the sections of which the rosette is composed can be'twisted so as to give their inner ends more lead in proportion to theirdecrease in rotative velocity toward the center.

In order to present the least resistance practically to the effectiveaction of the wind, I Y

bevel the radial arms B on their front faces, s o as to cause them toact as propelling-surfaces in aid of the sections; and I also scarf oft'the rear side correspondingly, to present the least retarding-surface'possible to the action of the air, (see section, Fig. 5;) and to carrythis feature all through the rotating sections, I chamfer off the frontedge of each slat in the sections A, the rear face, and the oppositeedge in the rear, so as to present as sharp an angle as is consistentwith practical construction. y

By the form and arrangement above de'- scribed of the connectionsbetween the axles c and the sliding head D, the two parts of the rod F fgradually come vmore into line with each other as the outer ends of thesails are thrown back, so that the resistance of the regu lating-weights increases as the sections A incline from the wind, the motions beingby this means, which is different from that of anyregulator heretoforemade, and novel, made with greater accuracy, and the tendency of thesecf tions to y beyond aproper position with an increase of velocityisobviated. As the largest p surface of the sails is alwaysA placedoutside of their axles a, and the wind, acting upon the sails, tends toturn them out of its action, this tendency is resisted with increasingforce (in consequence of the lpeculiar connection between the slidinghead D and the sections A) by the weight.

By using less weight at s, the balls C may, in some instances, bedispensed with, and the centrifugal force of the stay-bars K be alonerelied on to regulate the angle of the sails.

By means of the adjustable connections between the rods Fand therock-shafts i, the sai-ls can be readily set even and fairly adjusted tothe wind and each other.

This mode of adjusting the sections all to a like position is much moreperfect and convenient than the methods heretofore employed, and can bereadily extended to one or more series of, sections outside of thelirst, as are sometimes used in large rosette Windmills.

Having thus fully described my improvements in rosette windmil1s,what Iclaim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination ofthe governing-Weights C and bars K with thesections of a rosette windmill, substantially as and for the purposesset forth.

2. Also,the sliding head D and axes a, constructcd as described, for thepurpose of producing an increased resistance as the sections are turnedby the increased force ot' the Wind,

substantially as above specified.

4. Also, the general combination of the governors C K, sections A,beveled arms B, regulating-connection, and sliding head, constructed andoperating substantially as and for the purposes specified.

ADDISON l. BROWN.

Vitnesses XVM. H. HUBBARD, G. E. THRooP.

